Court Throws Out 'Steel Magnolias' Remake Injunction Suit; Film Will Be Released As Scheduled

First, a quick recap... Victoria L. White, who was an executive producer (along with the late Ray Stark) of the original 1989 Steel Magnolias film that the upcoming all-black remake is based on, filed a lawsuit on Monday against Lifetime Entertainment, A&E Networks and Sony Pictures Television, claiming that the an upcoming Lifetime TV movie remake was produced without her permission, or an agreement for the rights to remake the film.

One of the iterms in her lawsuit, (which you can read in full HERE) was the following request:

- She asks the court to stop the release of the new Lifetime movie unless she gets a screen credit and her compensation.

Well, that's not going to happen, according to a Deadline report this afternoon, which I'm not at all surprised by. The show will go on as planned, as her request for a restraining order against the movie's release (happening this weeked) was thrown out by a Los Angeles judge, in a decision made after a hearing this morning.

However, the rest of the lawsuit is still very much in play, so all the other claims she made in the suit are apparently still to be decided in court. And the other claims in the suit were as follows:

- That White acquired rights that were the basis of the 1989 movie starring Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton and others, and that she developed it with Stark -- who died in 2004 -- and others.

- That in 1991 Sony acquired Rastar Productions, which was Stark’s company.

- That there was a 1992 CBS movie based on the same material and she was credited as a co-producer.

- That she is entitled to a producing credit on the new TV movie or series of movies and compensation of $5,000 per episode plus a $10,000 bonus, and a share of net profits.

- The defendants told White her rights to a TV version were limited to the 1992 TV movie, but she says that's not the case, and that she is entitled to royalties on all future TV versions.

I should note that the original 1989 movie itself was based on a 1987 play of the same name by Robert Harling. No word on how Harling factors into all this, if at all.

So, strike one against the plaintiff in this case. Let's see how the rest of this develops.

The world premiere of Liftetime's all-black cast remake of Steel Magnolias is set for this Sunday, October 7, at 9/8c.

The film is directed by Kenny Leon (ABC's A Raisin in The Sun, Broadway's Fences and The Mountaintop), from a script adapted from the 1989 film screenplay by Sally Robinson.

Supporting each other through their triumphs and tragedies, they congregate at Truvy’s beauty shop to ponder the mysteries of life and death, husbands and children - and hair and nails - all the important topics that bring women together.